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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

If you're a writer you know all about the Writing Roller Coaster, unfortunately.

1. Short story finished. Time for a nap. Yay.

2. Can't find a market for your experimental romance novella about a vampire and a repressed accountant/stuntman who find themselves heading to the apocalypse but take a detour for a jolly cruise-ship holiday. No lit mags are looking for that sort of stuff at the moment. Apparently. :(

3. Your beta-reader likes the premise for your new novel. You've finished 125 1/2 words of it. It took you all week but they're good words. Really good. Yay.

4. Your short story called Hamster: It Was Not About the Carrot did not make the Fancy Literature Only contest's shortlist. :(

5. Publisher likes the manuscript you sent them, :) but they don't quite think it's right for them. :( You suspect letter was written by a robot. :( :( A jealous robot who is going to steal your idea. :( :( :(

6. You are invited to a fancy foo-foo literary festival.Yay!

7. At the fancy foo-foo literary festival, no one knows you, including the person who invited you. :(

8. Your book gets a good review on Amazon. 5 stars even. Yay! and Yay!

9. Your mother lets it slip that she wrote the review at Amazon. And that she hasn't finished your book yet. She only read the acknowledgements that mentioned her. "But it was very well written, Dear." :(

10. You have a new idea for a novel just when you were positive the well had run dry. It's a good one, maybe the best one ever. Ever ever, like in the history of ideas for novels. Best not to tell the robot. :)

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Yay!! This is the cover of my bookThato Lekoko: Superhero, coming out next month with Oxford University Press. This is my second book with this publisher, the first was The Second Worst Thing, which has done quite well.

The blurb at the back of Thato Lekoko says:

Tseke flies through the skies fixing the country’s problems withher superhero powers. But when she’s not in her lime-greensuit, she is Thato Lekoko, just an ordinary teenager … andshe’s late for school. While dealing with the school bully, caring for her youngersister and doing her chores, she also needs to find time tofinish an environmental project without letting down herbest friend Wanda. But when strange things start happening in the village, Thatodecides to investigate what’s really going on at Siane GoldMine. And for this job there are no superpowers; just thepower of being Thato Lekoko.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

So I'm back from the Maun International Arts Festival 2015. Still recovering. One of the things I did was attend the poetry workshop run by Ugandan poet Rashida Namulondo. I don't usually write poetry, only occasionally, and I like to learn more about it whenever I can get a chance.

It was an interesting workshop where I discovered different ways to look at things, different ways to find inspiration outside of yourself. One of the exercises was to try to use words in a new way defined by you but so that the reader/listener can get the meaning. I chose to use colours. Here's my poem, worked on a bit after the workshop.

The Colourful Coward

He’s like
orange in that fake way,

Like the
way orange looks bouncy and smells sickeningly-happy

But it
really isn’t.

He likes
to speak about African princesses and stars

Though
he only touches them with grey.

That
cold, unattached, slippery, non-committed side of grey,

Not the
killer side

The side
with passion.

I would
have welcomed the killer side.

Even
just a sliver to know he had it somewhere under everything the world saw of
him.

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About Me

I'm Lauri Kubuitsile. I'm a full-time, award-winning writer living in Botswana. I have numerous published books for both kids and adults, across various genres, and my short stories have been published around the world.
I have won the Pan-African prize for children's writing, The Golden Baobab, twice. I won the Bessie Head Literature Award for short story, the 2007 AngloPlatinum Short Story Contest, and the Botswana's Department of Arts and Culture, 2007 Botswerere Award for Creative Writing. I was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize.

NEWS!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!! NEWS!!!

- Lauri's book, Signed, The Secret Keeper (the second instalment of her Amogelang Sethunya series) is now out, published by Diamond Educational Publishers!!

-In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata and Other Stories is now available in print!!! It's published by Hands-On Books. Get it HERE. It is published as an ebook by HopeRoad- London. All stories in the collection are set in Botswana. Buy it HERE.

My Writing Successes

I have numerous published books, including three books from my Kate Gomolemo Detective series; The Fatal Payout (Macmillan 2005) , Murder for Profit (Pentagon 2008) and Anything for Money (Vivlia 2010). My children's book Mmele and the Magic Bones (Pentagon 2008) was short-listed for the African Writers Prize (UK) and has since been chosen as a set book for all primary schools in Botswana.

My book The Fatal Payout is a set work for all junior secondary school students in Botswana. Two of my books The Second Worst Thing (Oxford University Press) and The Curse of the Gold Coins (Vivlia) are CAPS approved in South African schoold for grade 7.

My short stories have won numerous prizes including first prize in the 2007 BTA/AngloPlatinum Short Story Contest, and twice winning highly commended in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Contest. I won the Golden Baobab Prize in both 2009 and 2010, first in the junior section and the following year the senior section. My stories can be found on four continents; online, in print literary and popular magazines, and in anthologies.

In 2005, I was among three writers short-listed for our national, biannual prize for creative writing the Orange/Botswerere Prize. In 2007, I took first position for the same prize. In 2011 I was short-listed for The Caine Prize.

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The Second Worst Thing

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SOME OF THE BOOKS BY LAURI KUBUITSILE

Below see some of the covers of Lauri's books.

Signed, Hopelessly in Love

YA book published by Tafelberg. Now available!! Click the book to BUY!

Curse of the Gold Coins

As if Leano doesn't have enough problems trying to solve the problem of school fees. Now she's caught up in solving a crime that took place a hundred years ago. She must vindicate her great, great grandmother and hopefully the curse of the gold coins will disappear. Now CAPS approved in South Africa for grade 7!